Thursday, October 18, 2012

New Comet: C/2012 T5 (BRESSI)

Cbet nr. 3258, issued on 2012, October 18, announces the discovery of a new comet (discovery magnitude 18.6) by T. H. Bressi on CCD mosaic images taken with the Spacewatch 0.9-m f/3 reflector at Kitt Peak on October 14.4. The new comet has been designated C/2012 T5 (BRESSI).

According to its preliminary parabolic orbital, comet C/2012 T5 (BRESSI) has it perihelion on T 2013 Feb. 23 with q = 0.31 and it might reach the peak magnitude ~8. (graph generated using the software Orbitas - click on the image for a bigger version).

We performed some follow-up measurements of this object, while it was still on the neocp. Stacking of 7 R-filtered exposures, 120-sec each,obtained remotely,from H06 (ITelescope network near Mayhill, NM) on 2012, Oct. 18.33, through a 0.43-m f/6.8 astrograph + CCD + f/4.5 focal reducer shows that this object is a comet: compact coma about 5" in diameter and tail nearly 12" long in PA 270.

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Comets & Asteroids news

Welcome to our Astronomy blog, devoted in particular to Comets & Neo and related topics. This blog is maintained by the Team of observers of Remanzacco Observatory in Italy, particularly active in the study of the small bodies of the Solar System.